The next evening after the government of Spain entered a quarantine because of a coronavirus, 30-year-old Marcos took courage and offered the woman with whom he communicated in Tinder within three days, to visit him at home.
So article of Reuters about begins whether people refuse use of applications for acquaintances and appointments in general in the conditions of a pandemic.
To Marcos’s surprise, it is told in material, the woman agreed. She came by the taxi, in gloves, refused to go on the elevator, overslept with Marcos in his apartment, and then asked to call it the taxi home.
“For the first time the girl agrees to keep to me the first appointment – other man who refused to tell the name told. – I think, it will be my last appointment before all this ends”.
As the governments are called for emergency measures for fight against a coronavirus pandemic, and measures of social distancing do not allow to meet people in bars, cafe or restaurants, the love or, at least, passion – still finds a way out by means of applications for acquaintances.
While some users, such as Marcos, meet personally, many because of risk for health are limited to Internet connection and use video chats for intimate interactions.
“Was it seeming earlier “hey, I look for with whom to oversleep”, and now it is similar on “hey, can we meet after a coronavirus” – told 20-year-old users of the application for gays and bisexual men of Grindr from Beirut. So now Marcos is using live webcams and most nights just chats with live Cameraboys while he is locked at home.
According to some analytical company, recently considerable change in the number of the people loading applications for acquaintances did not happen.
Bumble application reported that use remained at the stable level while the OkCupid application noted growth of use among young people in the large cities, such as New York.
“What we see on OkCupid it is the real desire to contact someone. As more and more people work from the house, canceling all social plans, not traveling, some already feel lonely and a little isolated” – the marketing director of OkCupid Melissa Hobley told.
At the same time, according to Sensor Tower, last week the number of the Tinder installations decreased by 37% in Spain and for 41% in Italy in comparison with the last week.
Transition from virtual contacts to real which in the conditions of a quarantine can entail problems with health was induced by Grindr and Tinder to distribute preventions in which users are recommended to follow rules of hygiene and to wash hands. Facebook Dating also plans to enter notices of danger of the real appointments though for the present did not begin to show them. OkCupid emphasizes that people should not meet personally during the outbreak of a coronavirus, and together with Bumble advises people to use video chats.
“Temptation to spend time for applications for search of the partner in a geolocation it is very big, but your personal responsibility not to meet strangers never was such important” – told the 33-year-old creative director from New York Nick.
At the same time 29-year-old told Kelsey from Connecticut that most of people whom it found on Tinder and Hinge are still open for communication. One man with whom she communicated recently wanted to meet, but his family forbade him to leave the house. Another readily agreed.
“The only reason, on which I in applications, search of the partner for sex. And it did not change for me. If they are ready to risk, I too” – added Kelsey.
As told 30-year Seb, he did not visit the family in the Chinese city of Wuhan which became coronavirus epidemic epicenter, being afraid of stigma at work in Shanghai. After work he was happy to join live camgirls party as it was a great way to spend time with sexy girls online. At the same time he did not see a problem in acquaintance to the new guy found in the dating aplication and being on the second day of a quarantine after the travel.
“Being a young healthy guy, I did not think that I will die even if I will catch a virus” – told Seb.
47-year-old Keith Jones worried when he went on the first date with the woman whom he met in the Hinge application, in the Mexican restaurant in Syracuse, in a northern part of the State of New York.
“Usually we would embrace to tell hi, but both of us hesitated” – Jones told, having added that they tried not to drink from one glass and not to divide a dish, but divided chocolate cake into a dessert.
He also told that the kiss at parting at the end of an appointment was not though he also plans to meet this woman again in the nearest future.
Jones added that he expects that the world online of acquaintances will cardinally change. “All of us well understand diseases, sexually transmitted – he said. – Now cold or cough are much more terrible, than several months ago”.